How Sinners Fight - Eva Ashwood Page 0,77

stealing nervous glances at each other every few seconds, as if mutually agreeing not to sell each other out. I let out a small breath and hope Cliff doesn’t notice the silent exchange, but I think he’s too pissed to pick up on it at this point.

He’s red from his neck all the way up to his ears, his jaw clenching as Gray speaks. He looks like he’s about three seconds from jumping over the table and putting his fist into Gray’s face, but he keeps himself in check, proving I was right—our blackmail is good, and he’s scared as shit that it’ll get out. He’s not about to attack anyone… for now.

“The game is over, Cliff,” Gray says in a low voice. “Keep fucking with Sophie and this will be all over the school, all over the internet. I’ll pay for a fucking billboard to make sure people find out about it, and none of us will stop until the whole world knows what a fucking sicko you are.”

With that, the Sinners, Max, and I head out of the bar. Cliff doesn’t make a move to stop us, and as the door swings shut and we step out into the cool California air, I want to feel triumphant.

But the twisting feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me none of this is actually over.

It’s just the beginning.

21

By the time we’re back on the campus, I’ve managed to shake off my dark thoughts, writing them off as just nerves. Cliff won’t try to do shit now that we have real blackmail material on him—blackmail that extends outside the little bubble of Hawthorne’s campus. Sure, he wouldn’t want the entire fucking school knowing about it, but the shit we have on him would follow him outside of school. It would follow him in his daddy’s circles, in business, in everything.

“Hell, yeah. We fucking did it.” Elias whoops into the dark parking lot. “Guess the leader of the Saints isn’t so saintly after all.”

He pulls me into his arms and presses a playful kiss to my lips, spinning me around.

“Who’s ruling Hawthorne now?” He grins. “Should we dub you Queen Sophie? Because I’m pretty sure Cliff just got dethroned.”

“It is a little strange to think that he’s not going to be at my throat all the time.” I huff a laugh. “Maybe I’ll actually start enjoying school for once.”

“You’ll still need to watch your back,” Declan says, tugging me gently from Elias’s grasp. “But that’s why we’re here.”

He’s right. It’s not like Cliff has been completely neutralized. I’ve damaged his ego twice now—first by kicking his ass and then by standing up to his threats—and I wouldn’t put it past him to pull more petty bullshit like trying to get my art show cancelled. But at least he won’t frame me for murder.

Declan places two fingers under my chin, tilting my head up toward his, and my lips reach up to catch his before I even have time to think. His kiss is slow, promising, protecting. It seals his promise with something that goes beyond words, and I let myself sink into it for a moment.

When we break apart, I suck in a breath, my heart kicking hard in my chest. I catch Gray’s gaze in the growing darkness of the parking lot, his green eyes looking a little closer to his namesake tonight.

“Come here, Sparrow.”

It’s part command and part plea, and even though it’s not really in my nature to obey anyone, I walk toward him, a grin tugging at my lips. “You called?”

He growls softly, catching my wrist and pulling me the last few steps toward him. My body collides with his a second before our lips meet.

When Gray kisses me, it’s like the burn that comes with a good shot of whiskey, a kiss that warms me from the inside out. It makes my lungs burn and my skin prickle as if fire is dancing through my veins.

Max raises an eyebrow when I pull away, and I roll my eyes. I know she would never judge me, no matter how strange my normal might be to other people. Hell, it was strange to me just a few short months ago, but now I can’t imagine my life without the Sinners. I can’t imagine having to choose between them.

Elias’s flirtatious energy, his optimism and sweetness. The quiet connection with Declan that goes beyond words and bodies. The explosive, destructive, chemistry between Gray and me. I would have never guessed